Tuesday’s armed robbery of three students waiting in a classroom twenty minutes before school started is dreadful and inexcusable. The lack of public outcry and action over this incident is disheartening. Oakland Tech is located at the crossroads of many Oakland neighborhoods. North Oakland, Rockridge, Downtown Oakland, West Oakland, and Piedmont all neighbor the school, yet few students live in these neighborhoods. In 2008 Oakland Tech’s student population was 56% African American, 14% Latino, 18% Asian, 8% white, 2% multiracial, and 1% Filipino including many English learners. At Oakland Tech only 15% of students score at grade level in math and only 30% in English.

As California continues to make cuts to education spending, and the Oakland City Council considers repealing funding for children and youth, this senseless act of violence is the pinnacle of neglect. Our collective neglect and lack of concern has real consequences for students. It is no hyperbole to say that our schools have become the gateways to imprisonment and military service for youth with decreasing options and less hope.

In a few years prison spending will officially top education spending in California, further limiting the ability of public schools to prepare youth for college and the job market. Soon, underserved children will be forced to learn with less instruction, fewer resources and now, provided Tuesday’s incident, less safety. The chances of young people one day succumbing to the unconscionable decision the assailants, DeJuan Lamont Davis, 22, and Derrick Minor, 20, made increases in a city already ravaged by crime and despair.

What is to be said for students who attend a school in a neighborhood with a significant white population yet which few white students attend, where less than 50% pass the California Exit Exam, and where students arriving at school early and ready to learn end up being robbed at gun point by adults who have no place being on campus? Oakland’s inability to guarantee safety, a stable learning environment and prosperity for every youth continues to stifle true democratic progress and community transformation. The future implications of abandoning an entire generation of Oakland’s children and youth are yet to be seen.

Nick James is Director of Special Projects for the East Bay nonprofit Youth Together. He was born, raised, and currently living in Oakland.

Charles McDonald is the Statewide Alliance Organizer for the Education and Racial Justice nonprofit, Californians for Justice. He lives in Oakland, California.